Auto News and Information

Ford GT is back, and this time it’s personal

There’s gonna be a new Ford GT! Photo Credit: maesthierry/Flickr/CC-BY

There’s going to be a new Ford GT, and I don’t mean the preferred car of people who have carnal knowledge of their sister. No, the all-American supercar is coming back for the 2017 model year and it’s tipped to be the fastest car to wear the blue oval since Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt punched old man Ferrari in his face at Le Mans.

All-American Ford GT to made in CANADA?!

Two cars bear the name Ford GT. One is driven by the sort of person who thinks “irregardless” is a word, completely identifies with Jaime Lannister (and not the kingslaying thing), and thinks ketchup goes great with a steak.

The other, of course, was a limited-production supercar made by Ford about ten years ago, based on the legendary Ford GT40 race car, which won Le Mans four consecutive times.

Ford recently announced the return of the GT for 2017 at the North American International Auto Show, otherwise referred to as the Detroit auto show, and much rejoicing commenced. Ford, according to USA Today, will commence production at Multimac, a performance car builder located in Toronto.

An American supercar built in CANADA?! Harrumph!

A Dearborn Yankee in Wayne Gretzky’s Court

OK, fine – Canada can build the Ford GT. We get most of their hockey players and Neil Young. Actually, it’s a prudent decision. Multimac Motorsports has extensive experience with performance tuning and parts manufacturing, and has relationships with manufacturer performance teams with multiple builders, including more than 30 years of collaboration with Ford. Furthermore, the car will have a carbon fiber body, which Ford currently lacks the manufacturing infrastructure to produce in-house.

Other specs are a bit lacking at the moment, as the version that Detroit got to gawk at (and my GOD is it stunning) was only a final draft of the concept; the production version will look essentially the same.

However, what is known is that instead of the supercharged 5.5-liter V-8 that powered the last iteration of the Ford Gt, the new version will get a hotter version of the 3.6-liter EcoBoost V-6 powertrain in the Ford F-150, according to Car and Driver. (The previous model likewise had a hot-rodded F-150 engine.) That said, instead of the current output of the base engine, the GT will be tuned up to more than 600 horsepower.

Along with the extra grunt goes an active (and nose-raising) suspension, paddle shifters, advanced aerodynamics and other goodies. More information will be forthcoming later, including price – but rest assured that putting one in the driveway is going to be a six-figure proposition.

Oh, and it’s going racing

Top speed, an obsession in the auto industry at the moment, is not reportedly a priority for the Ford GT, because Ford is reportedly chasing lap times.

That’s right. They are taking this sucker racing.

You see, Multimac Motorsports does a fair bit of racing. Aside from, according to Automotive News, helping to develop the Ford Boss 302R racer, they were also part of the team that won the LMP675 class at the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ford conceived the car – which goes on sale in 2016 – as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the famous 1-2-3 Le Mans victory in 1966. While they’ve been mum on whether it will race at Le Mans, just about everyone hopes it does.